Cleaner driving me mad!

This is why I charge by the job, not by the hour. £165 for a days deep cleaning

Yes. This is exactly it. Being an adult often calls for it.

say you've changed your mind and just want a 'normal' i.e. £50 for two hours clean in January. Make up something like you're going on holiday if needed and will book in the deep clean when you're back. That way even if she's shit you won't have 'lost' the extra £90 and will at least get something for the £50 you've already given her. Then once she's done it message her saying you'll let her know when you're back to book in the next clean, and just never contact her again.

If she does contact you then you can tell her you won't need her anymore. Up to you whether you white lie and say something like "we're trying to cut down on costs" or tell her straight that she's shit and fiddling her hours.

Don’t say anything . Work out the rate per min and have your deep clean and pay minus the minutes She tried to cheat you on then terminate the agreement

@Strawbsss you absolutely need to put your big girl pants on here!

You are paying for a service and not receiving it!

I'd also want to know exactly what you are getting for this deep clean.

And WHY does a deep clean cost more per hour?! It's illogical. Cleaning is cleaning and you do a good job. The more experienced you are the faster you are at it, so can charge more as you get the job done faster than someone inexperienced.

A deep clean should therefore be the same hourly rate but just take LONGER. It shouldn't cost more per hour, unless what they're saying is that they deliberately doing a shit job on normal cleans and cutting corners, so now you pay for it to be done properly.

My suggestion would be to politely question their hours. "Dear CF cleaner. I noticed on X date you were only able to clean at my property for 45 minutes. Are you able to pop over in the next couple of days to do the remaining 15 minutes (or 30 minutes on your own if that's easier), or I could just deduct the £12.50 from the deep clean your doing if you prefer?"

I find that standards drop off for some cleaners. There is always something to do if they finish early. Maybe make a list of tasks that could be done like running a cloth along forgotten skirting boards.

run it like a performance management at work. Give them time to make improvements

No - wait til after the deep clean.

No, because I hate cleaning and would never choose it as a job. Similarly, I would not be a dog walker because I do not like dogs. I am sure many people would not like my job either, but that does not mean I think I should be paid way over the going rate, just because not everyone would want to do it.

Pls let us know her response.

Why would you say this
. Many thanks etc. it's just nonsense.

Women need to stop all this shit. She's doing a crap job, she's taking the piss, she's taking cash from your family and you think she should say thanks!

I'd write off the deposit and cancel her now. Telling her beforehand is silly. She's already taking the piss, what do you think she'll do once she knows she out of the job after the deep clean?

Is she just getting the job done in good time and therefore leaving? If the standard is to your liking and her usual I don’t see the issue with her leaving early

if however she’s not cleaning properly that’s another matter

we get so fixed on I paid for an hour we don’t often see if the job is done if it’s done early

if you don’t want to use her services just tell her, a simple text I no longer require your services should suffice

Cheeky mare!
I once had a cleaner who was absolutely useless. She wouldn’t do the best job and, wimp that I am, I couldn’t summon up the courage to get rid of her. I came back unexpectedly from work one day to find my washing machine and tumble dryer on and my own cheeky mare of a cleaner jumped out of her skin when she saw me coming in the back door. She said that her ‘washer was broken, so she had to borrow mine!’ 😳 Not sure how long she had been doing her laundry at mine, but it would explain the sky high electricity bills I used to have!
When we moved house, I told her I wouldn’t be needing a cleaner any more as it was a much smaller house! (told you I was a wimp!!)

I'm so sorry this has happened to you 😭
I run my own tiny cleaning business and it's so disappointing that there's people out there doing this.
I sometimes genuinely miss the odd thing but doing half a job isn't ok, neither is charging £50 for two people to do less than an hour's work!

Please know that just saying "thank you but we've decided to no longer have a cleaner" or even "we're trying to cut costs so unfortunately we can't afford to have a cleaner anymore" is more than enough, if you don't like confrontation then those are easy ways to stop it.
I've had similar messages from customers and I of course understand and don't probe them, I ALWAYS worry that it's because of something I've done but then I always do the best job I can possibly do, so worrying comes naturally to me as I want to be the best I can be - it sounds like this cleaner(s) will only be concerned that she can't rip you off anymore 😔

Personally I'd also cancel the deep clean (depends on her cancellation process but mine is if cancelled in less than 24 hours then part payment required but with a deep clean I usually don't even ask for that!) as there's plenty of time to cancel but that's of course up to you.

I hope you find an honest cleaner, bless you 😭

Great idea

What would concern me is that she has a doorkey. Even if she gives it back, she may have a copy. Probably a key change needed to add to the cost.

Is your house clean ?

My cleaner used my products

Does she have a key? Just tell her after deep clean she does not need notice

Agree with this.
Once she's done the next clean, say that you've decided not to have a cleaner now so that was the last clean from her and get your keys back.
Don't make excuses or try to explain.

I think I’d say I didn’t need the deep clean in January so can it just be a normal 2 hour clean at £50 (bloody hell that is A LOT though), and not rebook it.

Be home when it’s done, and then terminate the arrangement and request your key back there and then.

This. And collect your keys.

It could be the other cleaner that comes with cutting corners and not the actual cleaner you deal with… pull her up on it and she will make sure she does it by herself or atleast double check everywhere before leaving

Well if you think she's cutting corners at the moment, her deep clean is hardly likely to be very deep is it?
You don't have to politely let her know anything. If she has a contract with you, give her the required notice. If you have her via an agency, let them know you want axreplacement person.
If you are cash-in-handing this arrangement, just tell her to fuck off because she's taking the piss.
Again, another example of women retreating into the 1950s, too scared to deal with the trades people (that's man's work) or answer the doorbell.